ICE HOCKEY: Oxford City Stars staged a third period comeback to draw 2-2 with the Bristol Pitbulls in ENL2 South on Saturday.
The Stars lined up without Jack Maisey, Stu Widdows, Colin Mortimer and Jack Clements while James Skaife was given the nod in goal. Bristol took an early lead when Janne Virtanen pounced to score at the front post on the rebound.
The hosts continued to press and Darryl Jones did well to block a Bristol shot as the home team swamped the Oxford defence. All the hustle was coming from Bristol and Oxford weren't able to match their energy early on, while Skaife had to be at his best to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
With two minutes of the first period remaining James Clarke went close for Oxford with a shot to the top left of the net, but when the buzzer rang the visitors were still a goal down. Oxford were much better at the start of the second period, creating several chances and Jeff Sykora went close at the back post after some good interplay.
Nick Oliver then almost found Warren Jones close in but his teammate narrowly failed to get a stick to the puck. Sam Broughton set up Joe Oliver for a strike that cannoned back off the bar, before Jones again worked his way close to the net without finishing off the move.
But despite all their good play Oxford found themselves 2-0 down when Adi Smith scored for Bristol to extend their lead against the run of play. Entering the final period Oxford had it all to do and they got off to a great start when Sykora tucked home the puck at the back post.
Soon after it was 2-2, David Tyler faking to pass and then slotting the puck into the top left corner. That woke the home crowd up and they urged the Pitbulls on as the game entered a fractious period, with both sides guilty of shoving and pushing.
As the game entered the final two minutes the atmosphere grew increasingly tense as both sides looked for a winner, with Joe Oliver drawing a good saw from the Pitbulls' 'keeper with 90 seconds left. But there were no further goals in the game, and the Stars lie 11th in ENL2 South ahead of next Sunday's visit from the Cardiff Devils.
